RE: Laser upgrade of SLA-500

From: Steve Stewart (steve@protogenic.com)
Date: Thu Sep 06 2001 - 18:58:04 EEST


We have recently upgraded our 500 with a solid-state laser from Laser
Innovations,
http://www.laserinnovations.com/

The laser had only one problem with some fine-tuning required, so far, but
we only have about 2,500 hours on it. It's a Spectra-Physics laser, I
believe guaranteed for 10,000 hours at 400 mW, no pro-rating. It has been
an excellent value for us for a number of reasons, some of which are: we had
a chiller for the Argon laser which acted up when it got hot in the summer,
blowing fuses, and of course, that is no longer needed; the power drawn by
the 500 has gone from 53A/leg (208 V) to 4A/leg, and the chiller was drawing
about 25A/leg, now nothing, so big power savings; we have constant power,
rather than the steady decline of the gas laser.

The only downside was that we had to change resins, so we had to dispose of
a vat of Vantico 5170.

There are other benefits, but I highly recommend that you consider
contacting Eric King or Bill Duncan at Laser Innovations.

Hope this helps,

-Steve Stewart
Protogenic, Inc.

-----Original Message-----
From: Chang-Shik Min [mailto:mcs9413@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2001 7:22 AM
To: rp-ml@ltk.hut.fi
Subject: Laser upgrade of SLA-500

  Dear RP professionals:

I have run a SLA-500 from 3D Systems Inc. for over 7 years.
In spite of its relatively good performance,some problems associated with
maintenance have always bothered me.
That's why I am almost determined to replace Argon gas laser with
solid-state
laser.
I,however,am very afraid that the solid-state laser can not show such
reliability and performance as Argon gas laser does.
Is there anybody who has experienced solid-state laser replacement on
SLA-500 ?
I am in a desperate need of your precious comments before replacing laser.
Any comments you could give me would be greatly apprecited.
Thanx in advance.

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